Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold negotiations and cease the deadly attacks on his country.

"Fighting is ongoing all over Ukraine. Let's sit at the table for negotiations to stop people dying," Zelenskyy said in a televised address Friday afternoon.

But he did not order Ukrainian troops to stop defending their country, instead telling them: "Stand tough. You're everything we have. You're everything that is defending us."

Zelenskyy criticized Europe's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling it too slow and noting divisions. He also issued a dire warning to the rest of Europe.

"It's not just Russian invasion in Ukraine, it's the beginning of the war against all Europe, against its unity, all human rights, against all the rules of coexistence on the continent, against European countries' refusal to change the borders by force," he said.

-ABC News' Julia Drozd and Patrick Reevell

Russia will begin negotiations again once "democratic order" is restored in Ukraine, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said Friday, amid an ongoing invasion of the neighboring country.

"We are ready for negotiations, at any moment, as soon as the Armed Forces of Ukraine respond to the call of our president to cease resistance and lay down their arms. No one intends to attack them," Lavrov said during a televised meeting in Moscow with pro-Russian separatist leaders from eastern Ukraine.

Lavrov's comments come as Russian forces attacked Ukrainian troops in Kyiv on Friday morning, as the fighting drew closer to the capital's city center.

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva and Patrick Reevell

Russia claimed Friday that its forces have so far disabled 118 elements of Ukraine's military infrastructure.

"These include 11 military airfields and 13 command and communication posts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

Konashenkov also alleged that more than 150 Ukrainian soldiers have "laid down their arms and surrendered during the fighting."

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva

ABC News' team in Kyiv saw a large explosion and heard intense gunfire in the distance early Friday afternoon.

The crackles of gunfire appeared to be several miles north of the center of the Ukrainian capital, but still well within the city limits.

Ukrainian authorities have told residents in the northern suburb of Obolon to take shelter and prepare for imminent military action. The area is a 10-minute drive from Kyiv's center.

The capital remains on edge as Russian forces draw near. Earlier, Ukrainian troops were seen hurriedly moving with ammunition to set up positions in the city center as air-raid sirens rang out.

Thousands of people have tried to leave Kyiv and head west to the Polish border, with some spending hours stuck in long traffic jams.

The Ukrainian military said it has distributed 18,000 assault rifles to territorial defense volunteers in the capital. It has also begun handing out weapons to civilians who want to fight and has called on healthy men over the age 60 to join the defense force, if they wish.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell